Born: 1471 in Roundway
Married: Isabella of Robert Pead at Ford of Bromham, Wiltshire
Died: 1498

This Richard Nicholas was 15 when Henry VII won the Battle of Bosworth
and slew Richard III on 22 August 1485, 17 when the Battle of Stoke and
the defeat of the first pretender, Lambert Simnel, took place, 26 when
Perkin Warbeck, the second pretender, was captured, and and only 27 at
his death in 1498. There is still a lot to research here; for both Richards
seem to have played a role in the developments of their day. Henry VII
faced two insurrections during his reign, which are likely to have brought
Richard Nicholas and his son, Richard Nicholas (Ni14-1-1) into battle and
cost them theirs lives.

This Richard may have had a daughter Jane
The Visitation of 1565
shows Isabel, the wife of Richard, as the daughter of Robert Afford of Bromham

Each insurrection centered around "pretenders" who claimed a closer
dynastic link to the Plantagenets than Henry. Lambert Simnel posed as the
Earl of Warwick, but his army was defeated and he was eventually pardoned
and forced to work in the king's kitchen. Perkin Warbeck posed as Richard
of York, Edward V's younger brother (and co-prisoner in the Tower of London);
Warbeck's support came from the continent, and after repeated invasion
attempts, Henry had him imprisoned and executed. Henry greatly strengthened
the monarchy by employing many political innovations to outmaneuver the
nobility.
The household staff rose beyond mere servitude: Henry eschewed public
appearances, therefore, staff members were the few persons Henry saw on
a regular basis. He created the Committee of the Privy Council ,a forerunner
of the modern cabinet) as an executive advisory board; he established the
Court of the Star Chamber to increase royal involvement in civil and criminal
cases; and as an alternative to a revenue tax disbursement from Parliament,
he imposed forced loans and grants on the nobility. Henry's mistrust of
the nobility derived from his experiences in the Wars of the Roses - a
majority remained dangerously neutral until the very end. His skill at
by-passing Parliament (and thus, the will of the nobility) played a crucial
role in his success at renovating government. Henry's political acumen
was also evident in his handling of foreign affairs. He played Spain off
of France by arranging the marriage of his eldest son, Arthur, to Catherine
of Aragon, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella. Arthur died within months
and Henry secured a papal dispensation for Catherine to marry Arthur's
brother, the future Henry VIII ; this single event had the widest-ranging
effect of all Henry's actions: Henry VIII's annulment from Catherine was
the impetus for the separation of the Church of England from the body of
Roman Catholicism. The marriage of Henry's daughter, Margaret, to James
IV of Scotland would also have later repercussions, as the marriage connected
the royal families of both England and Scotland, leading the Stuarts to
the throne after the extinction of the Tudor dynasty. Henry encouraged
trade and commerce by subsidizing ship building and entering into lucrative
trade agreements, thereby increasing the wealth of both crown and nation.
Henry failed to appeal to the general populace: he maintained a distance
between king and subject. He brought the nobility to heel out of necessity
to transform the medieval government that he inherited into an efficient
tool for conducting royal business. Law and trade replaced feudal obligation
as the Middle Ages began evolving into the modern world. Francis Bacon,
in his history of Henry VII, described the king as such: "He was of a high
mind, and loved his own will and his own way; as one that revered himself,
and would reign indeed. Had he been a private man he would have been termed
proud: But in a wise Prince, it was but keeping of distance; which indeed
he did towards all; not admitting any near or full approach either to his
power or to his secrets. For he was governed by none."

Sources: Wiltshire Visitation Pedigrees, 1623.
"Nicholas Family of Roundway and Ashton Keynes, Wilts" private printing
by E. Kite, located in the Library at Devizes, Wiltshire